Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The surface energy budget and interannual variation of the annual total evaporation over a highland lake in Southwest China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The turbulence spectra and energy budget were investigated based on eddy covariance method over an open-water highland lake (Erhai Lake) in Southwest China. We estimated the annual total evaporation and CO2 emission from the lake, and the evaporation trend in the past few decades was also discussed. Due to the large thermal inertia of lake water, the surface water temperature lagged behind the air temperature. Maximum lake-air temperature difference of about 4 °C had been observed in November. Water temperature profile measurements revealed that the stratification of lake water was not evident throughout the year. The spectra and cospectra of wind speed and temperature roughly satisfied the −2/3 and −4/3 rule in inertial subrange, respectively. The w spectra were observed to have a larger contribution from higher frequencies than other variables. Obvious shifts of spectra and cospectra peaks toward higher frequencies were observed as the atmospheric stratification became more stable. The lake acted as a heat sink from March through June and quickly released heat into the atmosphere from September through December. Average energy balance closure for the lake was about 80 % in 2012. The lake majorly acted as a source of CO2 to the atmosphere, but weak sinks of CO2 were observed in the summer and early fall. The total annual emission of CO2 was estimated to be 333.28 g C m−2 year−1. The annual evaporation over the lake decreased due to the increased amount of low cloud and precipitation, with the lower annual evaporation in the 1990s compared to that in the 1980s.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adrian R, Reilly CMO, Zagarese H, Baines SB, Hessen DO, Keller W, Livingstone DM, Sommaruga R, Straile D, Donk EV, Weyhenmeyer GA, Winder M (2009) Lakes as sentinels of climate change. Limnol Oceanogr 54(6):2283–2297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Assouline S, Tyler SW, Tanny J, Cohen S, Bou-Zeid E, Parlange MB, Katul GG (2008) Evaporation from three water bodies of different sizes and climates: measurements and scaling analysis. Adv Water Resour 31(1):160–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barros N, Cole JJ, Tranvik LJ, Prairie YT, Bastviken D, Huszar VLM, Giorgio PD, Roland F (2011) Carbon emission from hydroelectric reservoirs linked to reservoir age and latitude. Nat Geosci 4:593–596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates GT, Giorgi F, Hostetler SW (1993) Toward the simulation of the effects of the Great Lakes on regional climate. Mon weather rev 121(5):1373–1387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanken PD, Rouse WR, Culf AD, Spence C, Boudreau LD, Jasper JN, Kochtubajda B, Schertzer WM, Marsh P, Verseghy D (2000) Eddy covariance measurements of evaporation from Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. Water Resour Res 36(4):1069–1077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downing JA, Prairie YT, Cole JJ, Duarte CM, Tranvik LJ, Striegl RG, McDowell WH, Kortelainen P, Caraco NF, Melack JM, Middelburg JJ (2006) The global abundance and size distribution of lakes, ponds, and impoundments. Limnol Oceanogr 51(5):2388–2397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte CM, Prairie YT, Montes C, Cole JJ, Striegl R, Melack J, Downing JA (2008) CO2 emissions from saline lakes: a global estimate of a surprisingly large flux. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 113(G04041). doi:10.1029/2007JG000637

  • Dutra E, Stepanenko VM, Balsamo G, Viterbo P, Miranda PMA, Mironov D, Schär C (2010) An offline study of the impact of lakes on the performance of the ECMWF surface scheme. Boreal Environ Res 15(2):100–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang HJ, Wang YP, Li QH (2010) Evaporation variation from Erhai Lake and its controls under climatic warming (in Chinese). J Meteorol Environ 26(1):32–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Kormann R, Meixner FX (2001) An analytical footprint model for non-neutral stratification. Bound-Layer Meteorol 99(2):207–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kortelainen P, Rantakari M, Huttunen JT, Mattsson T, Alm J, Juutinen S, Larmola T, Silvola J, Martikainen PJ (2006) Sediment respiration and lake trophic state are important predictors of large CO2 evasion from small boreal lakes. Glob Chang Biol 12(8):1554–1567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li MS, Ma YM, Sun FL, Zhao YZ, Wang YJ, Lv YQ (2008) Characteristics of micrometeorology and exchange of surface energy in the Namco region (in Chinese). Plateau Meteorol 27(4):727–732

    Google Scholar 

  • Li ZG, Lv SH, Ao YH, Wang SY (2012) Analysis of micrometeorology and CO2 flux characteristics over Lake Ngoring lakeside region in summer (in Chinese). Prog Geogr 31(5):602–608

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu HZ, Feng JW, Sun JH, Wang L, Xu AL (2014) Eddy covariance measurements of water vapor and CO2 fluxes above the Erhai Lake. Sci China Earth Sci. doi:10.1007/s11430-014-4828-1

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma R, Duan H, Hu C, Feng XZ, Li AN, Ju WM, Jiang JH, Yang GS (2010) A half-century of changes in China’s lakes: global warming or human influence?. Geophys Res Lett 37(L24106). doi: 10.1029/2010GL045514

  • Marotta H, Duarte CM, Sobek S, Enrich-Prast A (2009) Large CO2 disequilibria in tropical lakes. Glob Biogeochem Cycle 23(GB4022). doi: 10.1029/2008GB003434

  • Mauder M, Foken T (2006) Impact of post-field data processing on eddy covariance flux estimates and energy balance closure. Meteorol Z 15:597–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncrieff JB, Massheder JM, Bruin HD, Elbers J, Friborg T, Heusinkveld B, Kabat P, Scott S, Soegaard H, Verhoef A (1997) A system to measure surface fluxes of momentum, sensible heat, water vapor and carbon dioxide. J Hydrol 188–189:589–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordbo A, Launiainen S, Mammarella I, Leppäranta M, Huotari J, Ojala A, Vesala T (2011) Long-term energy flux measurements and energy balance over a small boreal lake using eddy covariance technique. J Geophys Res Atmos 116(D02119). doi: 10.1029/2010JD014542

  • Oswald CJ, Rouse WR (2004) Thermal characteristics and energy balance of various-size Canadian shield lakes in the Mackenzie River basin. J Hydrometeorol 5(1):129–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco FS, Roland F, Downing JA (2013) Eutrophication reverses whole-lake carbon budgets. Inland Waters 4(1):41–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond PA, Hartmann J, Lauerwald R, Sobek S, McDonald C, Hoover M, Butman D, Striegl R, Mayorga E, Humborg C, Kortelainen P, Dürr H, Meybeck M, Ciais P, Guth P (2013) Global carbon dioxide emissions from inland waters. Nature 503(7476):355–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rouse WR, Oswald CM, Binyamin J, Blanken PD, Schertzer WM, Spence C (2003) Interannual and seasonal variability of the surface energy balance and temperature of central Great Slave Lake. J Hydrometeorol 4(4):720–730

  • Rouse WR, Blanken PD, Bussières N, Oswald CJ, Schertzer WM, Spence C, Walker AE (2008) An investigation of the thermal and energy balance regimes of Great Slave and Great Bear lakes. J Hydrometeorol 9(6):1318–1333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schertzer WM (1997) Freshwater lakes. In: The surface climates of Canada. McGill-Queens University Press. pp 124-148

  • Schindler D (2009) Lakes as sentinels and integrators for the effects of climate change on watersheds, airsheds, and landscapes. Limnol Oceanogr 54(6):2349–2358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spence C, Rouse WR, Worth D, Oswald C (2003) Energy budget processes of a small northern lake. J Hydrometeorol 4(4):694–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vesala T, Eugster W, and Ojala A (2012) Eddy covariance measurements over lakes. In: Eddy covariance: a practical guide to measurement and data analysis. Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg, London. 438 pp

  • Wang Z, Wang YC, Hu MM, Li Y, Liu YD, Shen YW, Li GB, Wang GH (2011) Succession of the phytoplankton community in response to environmental factors in north lake Erhai during 2009–2010. Fresenius Environ Bull 20(9):2221–2231

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao W, Liu SD, Li XH, Wang W, Hu N, Jiang X, Li YX, Xu XH, Zhang XS (2012) Transfer coefficients of momentum, heat and water vapour in the atmospheric surface layer of a large shallow freshwater lake: a case study of Lake Taihu (in Chinese). J Lake Sci 24(6):932–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu XD, Zhang RH, Shi XH, Lu CG, Shi XH, Zhang SJ, Bian LG, Cheng XH, Li P, Ding GA (2008) A new integrated observational system over the Tibetan Plateau. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 89(10):1492–1496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson K, Goldstein A, Falge E, Aubinet M, Baldocchi D, Berbigier P, Bernhofer C, Ceulemans R, Dolman H, Field C, Grelle A, Ibrom A, Law BE, Kowalski A, Meyers T, Moncrieff J, Monson R, Oechel W, Tenhunen J, Valentini R, Verma S (2002) Energy balance closure at FLUXNET sites. Agric For Meteorol 113(1):223–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang RH, Koike T, Xu XD, Ma YM, Yang K (2012) A China-Japan cooperative JICA atmospheric observing network over the Tibetan Plateau (JICA/Tibet Project): an overviews. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 90C:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41030106 and 41021004) and CMA key project (GYHY201406001). We thank the staffs from the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Meteorology and Dali National Climatic Observatory for their helps to maintain the measurement and provide historical data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jian Wu Feng, Hui Zhi Liu & Lei Wang

  2. Yunnan Provincial Institute of Meteorology, Kunming, 650034, China

    Ji Hua Sun

Authors
  1. Jian Wu Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hui Zhi Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ji Hua Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lei Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hui Zhi Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Feng, J.W., Liu, H.Z., Sun, J.H. et al. The surface energy budget and interannual variation of the annual total evaporation over a highland lake in Southwest China. Theor Appl Climatol 126, 303–312 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1585-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1585-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation